Skin Deep
by Aime Atem Itsumo
Summary: Things are not always as they appear, and these five teens are no exception. BBRae, RobStar. AU


**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Teen Titans. Wow, now that's a real shocker.

**Eventual Pairings:** BB**x**Rae, Star**x**Rob, Cy**x**Sarah/Bee, more if you're good

Let's see where this takes us, shall we? Enjoy.

"Our little group has always been  
And always will until the end"  
-Smells Like Teen Spirit, Nirvana

**

* * *

Cyborg **

Victor groaned and rolled off of his bed onto the carpeted floor of his bedroom. He made a swipe for the remote that would turn off his alarm clock, but missed. He grunted and stood up, reaching again for the so-called "infernal device" that had been one of his father's earliest inventions, and a gift to Victor in the fifth grade. Victor stumbled across the room to turn the alarm clock off manually, then began to get ready for school.

When Victor entered the kitchen, it was to find that his older brother Vincent had already finished eating breakfast and was busy with making Victor's. Amazing smells were wafting from a pan on the stove, including eggs, bacon, ham, and sausages. Victor sent a hopeful glance toward the section of the counter reserved for waffle-making pursuits, to find that the waffle iron was indeed out, and the red light that indicated that waffles were at that minute being created was lit. He smiled widely and gave his brother a hearty good morning.

"Back atcha'" replied his brother, slapping him on the back.

Victor sat at the table, and when Vincent placed a large plate filled with meat, eggs, waffles, and syrup in front of him, he began to eat like a ravenous beast, contemplating between gulps about how awesome his brother could be sometimes.

As Victor began the two-mile jog to school, he reviewed his new class schedule in his head. A new term was beginning, which meant new classes with new teachers. His day began with Advanced Placement Biology, followed by Advanced Placement Calculus, both college-level courses. Although he was only a Junior, he was at the top of both classes, surpassing the achievements of even the smartest Seniors in the school. After Calculus he had English, a class he dreaded above all others. Despite his best efforts, he had never done even remotely well in any creative or artistic classes. But right after English, to alleviate the pain, he was fortunate enough to have Physical Education with Mr. Dulin, his last class of the day. Mr. Dulin was also the coach of the football team, which meant that Victor already knew him.

After school was football practice. Victor was the quarterback of the Varsity football team. He was one of the tallest, burliest students in the school, and admired by many. Despite this, he had few close friends, and hadn't had a girlfriend in nearly two years. He worked hard, and nobody questioned him.

**

* * *

Raven **

Rachel opened her eyes at precisely five twenty AM, as she had every morning since she was eight. She smoothly stood up and made her bed, then stepped into her bathroom to take a shower and brush her teeth. She then dressed, putting on dark jeans and a navy sweatshirt completely devoid of any writing or logos whatsoever. At exactly five forty-five, she walked into her kitchen, where she made herself a cup of tea and ate a bowl of cold cereal. By six o'clock, she was completely ready for school, which didn't start until seven thirty.

For exactly one hour and five minutes, she sat on her bed in her room, meditating. She thought intensely about finding an inner focus, restoring balance and pushing aside emotion. She had been Goth once. She was far past that stage now, and hardly talked to anyone at all, unless forced to.

Unfortunately for Rachel, she had been forced to interact quite frequently in recent weeks. This was because her mother, Ariel, had decided about a year before to take in a foster child. After several months they found the perfect candidate, and told Ariel that he was up for adoption, if things went well. Ariel had looked forward to the day with excitement and anticipation when she would finally meet her new charge, while Rachel had been dreading it knowing without quite knowing how that she would not enjoy spending time with her new "sibling" as much as her mother could hope. The new boy had come, and he had proved all of Rachel's fears correct.

Garfield had arrived at the beginning of winter vacation, and Rachel could tell right off that he would be trouble. He was pretty short, about 5'3" (shorter than she was), had olive tinted skin, and, for some strange reason, green hair. When asked about the hair, he had explained that he had dyed his formerly blond hair to its current shade of green several months before, and, despite the fact that it was not supposed to be permanent and that he had tried several times to change it back, nothing would seem to work.

Rachel wasn't buying his story. She knew that without at least one touch-up, his hair would have grown out by then if, as he had said, he had dyed it several months previously. Also, he had looked uncomfortable while discussing the subject, and Rachel guessed that there was more to the story than what he had decided to tell them.

When seven fifteen rolled around and there had been no sign of Garfield whatsoever, Rachel sighed and went to his room, which was, unfortunately for her, situated right next to her own. She knocked on the door, and, getting no response, opened it herself and stepped in. The sight that greeted her was that of Garfield fast asleep on his bed. Stepping gingerly over piles of clothes, Rachel walked over to his nightstand where she found the alarm clock thoughtfully provided by Ariel. It seemed that he had forgotten to turn it on the night before. Rachel picked it up, and turned the volume all of the way up, then activated it using a button labeled "TEST".

_**BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP…**_

**

* * *

Beast Boy **

"WOMBAT!" Gar shouted in triumph, finally remembering the name of the exotic marsupial that his mother was showing him a picture of.

"Oookay." Said a voice that definitely did not belong to his mother. Startled, Gar opened his eyes to see a pale girl with purple hair and eyes glaring at him. He realized where he was, and was quick to hide his disappointment by giving Rachel a big smile.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Guess what time it is."

"Darn it, did I oversleep?"

"You could say that."

Gar glanced at the alarm clock that had been reinstated on his nightstand. "SEVEN EIGHTEEN!" he practically screamed, "That means I only have twelve minutes to get ready!"

"Only seven. It takes five minutes to walk to school."

"Shoot!" exclaimed Gar. "Well, thanks for waking me up, but could you leave now? I need to change." He gave her a big grin as she started walking out.

"Whatever." she said, and left.

Garfield hastily dressed and grabbed his backpack, stuffing it with books as he went along, muttering to himself. _"Just great, Gar. Way to impress a new family. What's wrong with you?"_

As soon as he reached the front door, however, he was all smiles again, and gave Rachel a big grin when he saw her waiting for him with a scowl on her face.

"Thanks so much for waiting, Rae! Sorry I overslept" Garfield said, the grin never wavering.

"Idiot, I had to wait. You don't know the way to school. And don't call me Rae, my name is Rachel. Understood?" she said, her scowl just as steady.

"Okay, but you can call me Gar if you want to. Everybody else does" he said remaining cheery.

"Believe me, I don't want to."

"Sure, your choice."

"Whatever. Let's just go."

**

* * *

Robin **

Dick's eyes snapped open at five o'clock to the sound of his alarm clock, which was turned to his preferred radio station, hard rock. He got out off bed and into work-out clothes; red sweatpants and a green beater. He left his room and walked down the hallway to the door that led to his basement. Opening the door, which was well oiled and didn't give so much as a squeak, he walked down the carpeted stairs to the room that doubled as his work-out center.

Dick set up a dummy in the middle of the room. Because it was a special day, January 3rd, the day vacation officially ended and school started again, he had chosen a dummy that would help to lighten his especially bad mood. Outwardly, it looked like every other dummy Dick had, and when he punched it, it gave the same way a real dummy would, but when he started to beat the crap out of it, the dummy took it past a figure of speech. There was actually a machine inside of it that caused it to crap when it had taken a good beating. It somehow made Dick feel better, and that was an important goal of his work-out session.

When Dick checked his digital watch, he found that he was right on schedule. It was six twenty-five, and he had thirty five minutes before he had to leave to catch the bus that he took to school every day. He left the basement and returned to his room, where he proceeded to spend over ten minutes merely gelling his hair, getting it just right in a way that was sure to catch the ladies' attention. Not that he was looking for a relationship at the moment. Quite the opposite.

The rest of his time he spent dressing for school and eating. Then, without saying goodbye to anyone, he quickly left the house and began to walk to the end of his long driveway.

* * *

Tedious, but most beginnings are. I need to thank crazy coww lady for being a very cool person (and for some beta-ing). 

Reviews are more than appreciated. They earn undying gratitude (which can always be exploited in your favor). Please review!


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